Stanislas MOUSSÉ Longue Vie
Presentation
I work directly on my panel in pencil, then go over the lines with a rotring pen (usually 0.2 mm) before rubbing out the pencil marks. It's an "archaic" technique I used as a child and have kept up since (having taught myself). I like the spontaneity of drawing and I always try to sketch as fast as possible.
I divide the process into stages: sketching the principal elements of the panel, then rotring pen for the important lines (figures, details, etc.), and finally textures of the various elements (trees, ground, clothes, etc.).
I like the idea of texture. The way I work is to take a risk when I sketch the principal lines. After that, I feel safe working on these textures: they're extremely time consuming, but there's something very reassuring about them (thanks to their repetitive nature). I think of this part of the process as a sort of graphic mantra.
Literature and film feed into my work a lot. Doing full-page illustrations for Longue vie gives the story a kind of cartoonis feel, as if the characters are caught up in a mad rush and there's not much dead time. The concept I used in Chaos (my last comic strip) is more complex here, the idea being to produce a story with greater depth and... sensitivity.
The large formats proposed for this exhibition enabled me to dive back into this world and emphasise certain important points in the story. By beefing up the graphics, multiplying, expanding, revealing unseen elements of the story (the queen's island, for example), I could keep escaping into this imaginary universe where the possibilities are endless.
Works selection
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